Reading Proust's In Search of Lost Time in 2014 discussion

I'm planning on reading the Vintage Kindle edition rather than the Modern Library version as it's readily available here in the UK. As the pagination seems to be different than the Modern Library edition I have been sorting out where the schedule points appear in my copies and I thought I'd add it here just in case anyone else will be reading this edition. I have only bought the first two volumes so far, but will add further info when I buy the subsequent volumes. I have included page numbers and the Kindle location.

The Vintage Volume Set Schedule

The books this relates to are Swann's Way, Within a Budding Grove, The Guermantes Way, Sodom and Gomorrah, The Captive & The Fugitive and Time Regained.

January
Week Ending 01/04: Swann's Way, to page 56 (location 911)
Week Ending 01/11: Swann's Way, to page 119 (location 1844)
Week Ending 01/18: Swann's Way, to page 190 (location 2900)
Week Ending 01/25: Swann's Way, to page 254 (location 3832)

February
Week Ending 02/01: Swann's Way, to page 322 (location 4858)
Week Ending 02/08: Swann's Way, to page 387 (location 5826)
Week Ending 02/15: Swann's Way, to page 448 (location 6730)
Week Ending 02/22: Swann's Way, to page 513 (location 7672) (end of Swann's Way)

March
Week Ending 03/01: Within a Budding Grove, to page 70 (location 1068)
Week Ending 03/08: Within a Budding Grove, to page 142 (location 2121)
Week Ending 03/15: Within a Budding Grove, to page 210 (location 3132)
Week Ending 03/22: Within a Budding Grove, to page 281 (location 4157)
Week Ending 03/29: Within a Budding Grove, to page 353 (location 5219)

April
Week Ending 04/05: Within a Budding Grove, to page 425 (location 6276)
Week Ending 04/12: Within a Budding Grove, to page 493 (location 7279)
Week Ending 04/19: Within a Budding Grove, to page 560 (location 8269)
Week Ending 04/26: Within a Budding Grove, to page 618 (location 9124) (end of Within a Budding Grove)

May
Week Ending 05/03: The Guermantes Way, to page 79
Week Ending 05/10: The Guermantes Way, to page 155
Week Ending 05/17: The Guermantes Way, to page 231
Week Ending 05/24: The Guermantes Way, to page 306
Week Ending 05/31: The Guermantes Way, to page 380

June
Week Ending 06/07: The Guermantes Way, to page 455
Week Ending 06/14: The Guermantes Way, to page 532
Week Ending 06/21: The Guermantes Way, to page 614
Week Ending 06/28: The Guermantes Way, to page 691 (end of The Guermantes Way)

July
Week Ending 07/05: Sodom and Gomorrah, to page 71
Week Ending 07/12: Sodom and Gomorrah, to page 140
Week Ending 07/19: Sodom and Gomorrah, to page 209
Week Ending 07/26: Sodom and Gomorrah, to page 278

August
Week Ending 08/02: Sodom and Gomorrah, to page 347
Week Ending 08/09: Sodom and Gomorrah, to page 416
Week Ending 08/16: Sodom and Gomorrah, to page 483
Week Ending 08/23: Sodom and Gomorrah, to page 545
Week Ending 08/30: Sodom and Gomorrah, to page 616 (end of Sodom and Gomorrah)

September
Week Ending 09/06: The Captive, to page 93 (loc.1188)
Week Ending 09/13: The Captive, to page 187 (loc.2368)
Week Ending 09/20: The Captive, to page 277 (loc.3499)
Week Ending 09/27: The Captive, to page 368 (loc.4644)

October
Week Ending 10/04: The Captive, to page 462 (loc.5834)
Week Ending 10/11: The Captive, to page 559 (loc.7048) (end of The Captive)
Week Ending 10/18: The Fugitive, to page 637 (loc.7990)
Week Ending 10/25: The Fugitive, to page 708 (loc.8872)

November
Week Ending 11/01: The Fugitive, to page 783 (loc.9800)
Week Ending 11/08: The Fugitive, to page 860 (loc.10754)
Week Ending 11/15: The Fugitive, to page 936 (loc.11700) (end of The Fugitive)

**revised schedule for the last volume**
November
Week Ending 11/08: Time Regained, to page 77 (loc.1005)
Week Ending 11/15: Time Regained, to page 152 (loc.1963)
Week Ending 11/22: Time Regained, to page 226 (loc.2903)
Week Ending 11/29: Time Regained, to page 302 (loc.3847)

December
Week Ending 12/06: Time Regained, to page 379 (loc.4813)
Week Ending 12/13: Time Regained, to page 456 (loc.5766)
Week Ending 12/20: Time Regained, to page 531 (loc.6704) (end of Time Regained, end of In Search of Lost Time)

No problem Alia. I wanted to find the places myself so I thought I'd share them with the group. I tried to keep the formatting as close to yours.

Hi Alia I'm trying to work out pages for the Modern Penguin Classics ed (general ed. Christopher Prendergast). To page 64 doesn't really tell me anything, as I have a hundred fewer pages, which means I'll be reading it faster ;-). (NOT) I've worked out the rest for the first volume, just need the first section ending.
Cheers
Joni

Thanks Alia. I thought it might have to do with that cup of tea! :-)
I got a copy of "Paintings in Proust" and have been reading the introduction there. But at the moment am too ensconced in Austen's "Emma". ...

I've decided to read the Viking translation by Lydia Davis for Swann's Way. The page numbers for that edition for the hardcover are as follows:

January
Week Ending 01/04: Swann's Way, to page 49
Week Ending 01/11: Swann's Way, to page 102
Week Ending 01/18: Swann's Way, to page 162
Week Ending 01/25: Swann's Way, to page 220

February
Week Ending 02/01: Swann's Way, to page 277
Week Ending 02/08: Swann's Way, to page 334
Week Ending 02/15: Swann's Way, to page 386
Week Ending 02/22: Swann's Way, to page 444 (end of Swann's Way)

Susan wrote: "Jonathan wrote: "I'm planning on reading the Vintage Kindle edition rather than the Modern Library version as it's readily available here in the UK. As the pagination seems to be different than the..."

Susan: I've got 'Swann in Love' going from page 225 to 460. The total number of pages is 513. Does that match with your version?

Susan wrote: "No, my version shows 'Swann in Love' to finish on page 414, but perhaps it is just that I am in the US."

What is the last page of the book? i.e. the last page of the story.

Susan wrote: "Page 463 is the last page. Oh God, that's depressing...I had better slow down. I don't want it to end."

Maybe do a re-read? :-) What's the ISBN of yours?

Don´t get depressed anybody. If you keep on reading La Recherche, you will meet with Swann and Odette again.

Hi, all! I am reading the Lulu.com version (purchased through Barnes & Noble.) I'm sure it's not as great of a translation, but the price was unbeatable. In case anyone else is reading that version, below are the page numbers that correspond to this group's reading schedule:

W/E 01/04: to page 60
W/E 01/11: to page 100
W/E 01/18: to page 162
W/E 01/25: to page 215
W/E 02/01: to page 273
W/E 02/08: to page 330
W/E 02/15: to page 381
W/E 02/22: to page 435 (finish Volume I)
W/E 03/01: to page 494
W/E 03/08: to page 555
W/E 03/15: to page 612
W/E 03/22: to page 672
W/E 03/29: to page 733
W/E 04/05: to page 792
W/E 04/12: to page 850
W/E 04/19: to page 907
W/E 04/26: to page 956 (finish Volume II)
W/E 05/03: to page 1023
W/E 05/10: to page 1085
W/E 05/17: to page 1149
W/E 05/24: to page 1210
W/E 05/31: to page 1270
W/E 06/07: to page 1320
W/E 06/14: to page 1396
W/E 06/21: to page 1462
W/E 06/28: to page 1525 (finish Volume III)
W/E 07/05: to page 1584
W/E 07/12: to page 1641
W/E 07/19: to page 1698
W/E 07/26: to page 1756
W/E 08/02: to page 1812
W/E 08/09: to page 1868
W/E 08/16: to page 1924
W/E 08/23: to page 1975
W/E 08/30: to page 2032 (finish Volume IV)
W/E 09/06: to page 2096
W/E 09/13: to page 2163
W/E 09/20: to page 2225
W/E 09/27: to page 2286
W/E 10/04: to page 2341
W/E 10/11: to page 2417 (finish Volume V)
W/E 10/18: to page 2468
W/E 10/25: to page 2517
W/E 11/01: to page 2568
W/E 11/08: to page 2616
W/E 11/15: to page 2667 (finish Volume VI)
W/E 11/22: to page 2712
W/E 11/29: to page 2758
W/E 12/06: to page 2804
W/E 12/13: to page 2854
W/E 12/20: to page 2937
W/E 12/27: to page 2973 (finish Volume VII)

I don't mind at all Susan. It gives me a chance for a breather from Proust (as I find In Search of... rather claustrophobic) and to catch up on reading for another group.
Sometimes too, like a huge meal, it needs time to settle in one's stomach ;-)

The pace, as it is at the moment, suits me. I finished Swann's Way at the weekend but I plan to re-read bits. I'm not planning on starting Vol. 2 early though.

Reading Schedule for Penguin Translations

I've listed the 'week ending' date followed by the page number of the paper copy and/or the Kindle location. In brackets is the opening sentence of the following week's start point.

Vol.2: In the Shadow of Young Girls in Flower
March
03/01: to p.63/loc.1271 ("On fine days, I continued to go to the Champs-Élysées...")
03/08: to p.125/loc.2329 ("We went into dinner. Lying beside my plate...")
03/15: to p.182/loc.3314 ("Although the wittiness of any salon and its degree...")
03/22: to p.244/loc.4312 ("To give us an impression of the realness of people...")
03/29: to p.306/loc.5366 ("After dinner, when my grandmother and I had gone upstairs...")

April
04/05: to p.368/loc.6444 ("That day, as on the preceding days,...")
04/12: to p.426/loc.7430 ("I walked up and down, impatient for him to finish...")
04/19: to p.482/loc.8389 ("Once we had eaten, we would play at games...")
04/26: to p.531/loc.9237 (end of In the Shadow of Young Girls in Flower)

Vol.3: The Guermantes Way
May
05/03: to loc.1339 ("To return to the question of sound...")
05/10: to loc.2425 ("I was heart-broken not to have said good-bye...")
05/17: to loc.3523 ("Mme Guermantes had sat down...")
05/24: to loc.4616 ("Mme de Villeparisis was none too pleased to be...")
05/31: to loc. 5682 ("Luckily, we were very soon rid of Françoise's daughter...")

June
06/07: to loc.6746 ("It was Robert de Saint-Loup, who had arrived in town...")
06/14: to loc.7886 ("As for those Guermantes of the true flesh and blood...")
06/21: to loc.9153 ("There was in Combrary a rue de Saintrailles...")
06/28: to loc.10289 end of The Guermantes Way.

Vol.4: Sodom and Gomorrah
July
07/05: to loc.1226 ("In the ordinary course of things...")
07/12: to loc.2281 ("They announced that the carriage had been brought up...")
07/19: to loc.3312 (Part Two, Chapter Two)
07/26: to loc.4326 ("Around this time, there occurred a scandal...")

August
08/02: to loc.5369 ("The faithful went in. M. Verdurin...")
08/09: to loc.6395 ("Mme Cottard was now fast asleep...")
08/16: to loc.7399 ("After dinner the car brought Albertine back...")
08/23: to loc.8293 ("Cottard finally arrived although...")
08/30: to loc.9315 (end of Sodom and Gomorrah)

Vol.5: In Search of Lost Time: The Prisoner and The Fugitive (In Search of Lost Time, #5)
September
09/06: to p.65 ("I would undress and get into bed...")
09/13: to p.130 ("It would already have been enough...")
09/20: to p.195 ("I immediately concluded that M. de Charlus...")
09/27: to p.254 ("As M. de Charlus also loved tale-bearing...")

October
10/04: to p.316 ("For a moment now I had been feeling...")
10/11: to p.384 (The end of The Prisoner)
10/18: to p.440 ("Set free once more, released...")
10/25: to p.491 ("I had suffered badly enough in Balbec...")

November
11/01: to p.544 ("A month later Swann's young daughter...")
11/08: to p.599 ("Meanwhile, Mme de Villeparisis had asked M. de Norpois...")
11/15: to p.658 (The end of "The Fugitive")

**As group members finished the previous volume early a revised schedule was used for the last volume**

Vol. 6: Finding Time Again
November
11/08: to p.51 (" 'Do you think we're in for a long haul?' I said to Saint-Loup...")
11/15: to p.103 ("I thought at once of Combray, but in the past...")
11/22: to p.154 ("To increase Françoise's anxieties even more, the butler showed...")
11/29: to p.206 ("I needed to restore to even the slightest of the signs which surrounded me...")

December
12/06: to p.258 ("To return to that politician, despite the changes...")
12/13: to p.308 ("We were interrupted by the voice of the actress...")
12/20: to p.358 (end of Finding Time Again, end of In Search of Lost Time)

Following you, Jonathan, and since I matched the reading schedule to my brazilian Kindle versions of the books, why not post it in here - maybe another brazilian joins us in the future. If not, it'll still be here for future reference for groups reading this masterpiece in the coming years.

Reading Schedule for "Em busca do tempo perdido": Brazilian Kindle Edition by Editora Globo:

Vol. 1: No caminho de Swann
January
01/04: to location 1034
01/11: to location 1967 ("Enquanto eu lia no jardim, coisa que...")
01/18: to location 2962 ("Também de uma impressão que tive em Montjouvain...")
01/25: to location 3833 ("Assim, quando o pianista terminou, Swann...")

February
02/01: to location 4834 ("Um dia em que reflexões desse gênero...")
02/08: to location 5739 ("Era na residência da marquesa de Saint-Euverte...")
02/15: to location 6553 ("Certas noites, Odette...")
02/22: to the end


Vol. 2: À sombra das raparigas em flor
March
03/01: to location 1256 ("Continuei a ir aos Campos Elíseos nos dias de bom tempo...")
03/08: to location 2381 ("Entrementes já havíamos passado para a mesa...")
03/15: to location 3439 ("Embora os méritos espirituais de um salão...")
03/22: to location 4451 ("Não há nada talvez que nos dê mais impressão...")
03/29: to location 5535 ("Depois do jantar, quando subia a meu quarto com minha avó...")

April
04/05: to location 6692 ("Naquele dia, como nos precedentes...")
04/12: to location 7691 ("Eu ia e vinha, impaciente por vê-lo terminar...")
04/19: to location 8715 ("Esgotadas as provisões, nós nos entregávamos a jogos...")
04/26: to the end


Vol. 3: O caminho de Guermantes
May
05/03: to location 1241 ("Voltando ao som: se reforçarmos os tampões...")
05/10: to location 2368 ("Estava desolado por não ter dito adeus a Saint-Loup...")
05/17: to location 3496 ("A sra. de Guermantes se havia sentado. Como o nome dela...")
05/24: to location 4671 ("Aliás, a sra. de Villeparisis só em parte se achava satisfeita...")
05/31: to location 5766 ("Felizmente, logo nos vimos desembaraçados da filha de...")

June
06/07: to location 6850 ("Era, chegado pela manhã, quando eu o julgava ainda em Marrocos ou no mar, Robert de Saint-Loup.")
06/14: to location 7945 ("Quanto aos Guermantes segundo a carne, segundo o sangue...")
06/21: to location 9209 ("Havia em Combray uma rua de Saintrailles em que eu nunca...")
06/28: to the end

Thanks Renato. Out of curiosity, when was the Portuguese (?) translation first published?

Hey Jonathan! First brazilian portuguese translation was published in 1948.

How's the reading schedule working out for you guys?

I could read them faster and I'm anxious to finish all books and regain time :) but in the other hand I feel I should take my time with each volume and still be able to read other books.

Renato: Before we started I thought I'd end up reading each book in about a week and wait for the next book to start. But I've ended up more or less reading each week on schedule. So, the schedule suits me as I find it quite a leisurely pace.

That's ok Susan, I'll allow you to disagree with me. :-)
The problem is that some want to read faster than the schedule whilst others want to go slower. Of course comments can be added to the discussion at any time and if a few want to read at a slower pace then it may be worth arranging amongst yourselves to arrange an alternative schedule.
I quite like the fact that the current schedule is about 60 pages a week, one volume every two months and all completed in a year. The weekly reading gives me time to go over stuff if required as well.

I have to figure out what's the best reading schedule for me yet. As I was late and wanted to catch up with you guys, I read both vol. 1 and vol. 2 in about 20 days. Now I'm gonna try reading accordingly to the schedule to see how it feels.

Finished vol IV this morning, Sodome & Gomorrhe. I started earlier than the rest of the group, just before Thanksgiving. I don't think spoilers are too meaningful in this novel, but I'll avoid cutting and pasting my review just in case. Now heading into Prisonniere, which I'm hearing is the most maddening of the volumes. Maybe I should take a break and read something else for a few days...

Stephen wrote: " Maybe I should take a break and read something else for a few days... "

It might be a good idea Stephen. I find I need a couple of weeks break between books.

I think it's a very personal decision, completely dependent on one's reading style and current mood. I find the reading schedule cramps my reading preference, so I let a month go by between the first and second books, then caught up to the group and finished ahead of everyone. I'll probably start reading the third sometime near the end of May, but I'll blow right through it in three or four weeks.

I find I can't read too much of Proust in a single block and therefore read in chunks of about 30 pages or so. This works out quite well with the scheduled 60/70 pages per week. Also being able to read other stuff between each week's material works for me as I find Proust's work very claustrophobic.

Dave has proposed a new schedule for the last volume and we decided to follow it. Here it is:

MODERN LIBRARY MKE Translation ebook
Time Regained proposed reading schedule

Week ending 11/08 Beginning to 50,412 Stop at paragraph beginning "“Are we in for a long war?” I said to Saint-Loup. “No, I believe it will be very short,” he replied.

Week ending 11/15 To 51,361 Stop at paragraph beginning "My mind turned immediately to Combray, but in the past I had thought that I would lower myself in the eyes of Mme de Guermantes by confessing to the humble position which my family occupied there.

Week ending 11/22 To 52,285 Stop at "“There’s our lord and master to be,” said the butler to Françoise, showing her “William.” She goggled, then pointed to the feminine personage who stood by his side and said: “And there’s the Williamess!”

Week ending 11/29 To 53,222 Stop at paragraph beginning "I was surrounded by symbols (Guermantes, Albertine, Gilberte, Saint-Loup, Balbec, etc.) and to the least of these I had to restore the meaning which habit had caused them to lose for me."

Week ending 12/06 To 54,184 Stop at paragraph beginning "To return to the politician, in spite of his change of physical substance, just as profound as the transformation of the moral ideas which his name now connoted to the public,"

Week ending 12/13 To 55,133 Stop at paragraph beginning "My conversation with Gilberte was interrupted by the voice of the actress which now made itself heard."

Week ending 12/20To finish (56128).

Suggested post-reading.

Shattuck, Roger Proust's Way: Field Guide to In Search of Lost Time

Week ending 12/27 Swann's Way Beginning to 1122 Stop at paragraph that begins "Combray at a distance, from a twenty- mile radius, as we used to see it from the railway when we arrived there in the week before"

Gotcha! I'll have to search my ebook for these phrases to update the page numbers I should read to. I think I've read past a part where I should have stopped, but it was right in the middle of a ton of revelations, and it felt wrong to stop reading at that point. LOL!

Starting from chapter 2 in The Fugitive there's a lot going on, Sunny. It's almost impossible to stop! I ended up reading the last 2 chapters in a couple of days!

I just finished chapter 2. My head is spinning.

Sorry, just to make sure I understand... It sounds like the group started reading Time Regained during week-ending 11/8. Is that right? I'm still reading the last bit of The Fugitive...

Yes Sunny, we have started Time Regained.

Oh, dear. I need to get cracking, then. Only 60 more pages...

I'll probably be a bit behind as well with Time Regained.

I've made a mental note to re-read chapters 2-4 as soon as possible. There was so much in them that I must have missed loads.

I can always stop and wait for you guys if you feel starting it next week would be better. I think it'd be great if all of us could read the last volume together!

No worries, Renato! I've got a flight coming up tomorrow that will allow me to catch up with the group. :)